11th - 18th october 2006

18th october

I guess I should update this. I just need to keep reminding myself that if I don't update this then joey and I will have no diary of our trip to look back on when we're old and wrinkly. That, and of course any poor fool that stumbles on this won't get to keep up with us either... So, San Diego:


11th - was quite sad to leave las vegas. Any longer there and it could have become too intense, but I think we got it about right. We dropped the kids off at the airport (chris and a slightly tearful lu), they were off to san fran for a week. I hope the weather was kinder to them there than it was to us. From there we cruised down to san diego in the hope of finding some more sunshine and maybe even love, fame and fortune. Okay, just sunshine then...

We stopped off at a town called temecula on the way down. It has an old wooden frontier town area which you can't help but think is somewhat contrived... Anyway, after a quick lunch we spotted a hairdressers over the road and decided to take advantage - after all my barnet hadn't been cut since we left blighty. Now being as this was a mainly mexican area of california, and they don't get too many balding blonde englishmen in there, they pulled out all the stops. I assume that was the reason, as I can only describe it as the world's most erotic haircut. The young lady who cut my hair, let's call her madonna, spent rather a long time stroking my head and neck whilst shaving my hair. She also dropped in comments such as "oh, it's so blonde", "such a manly haircut" and "I bet it doesn't take you long in the shower". Fortunately, joey couldn't hear madonna's ramblings and was unaware that her husband was being seduced by a rogue hairdresser. But madge wasn't done there! She lead me out the back to wash my hair. I barely have any hair! I don't think my hair has ever been washed by anyone but me (well, maybe by rosie when I was younger). Anyway, the washing involved ear and forehead stroking, not to mention more lewd comments. And poor wifey was blissfully unaware. It only cost ten bucks, so I gave her a rather generous five dollar tip. In retrospect this was perhaps not the smartest move, I think she took it as a come-on. Oops. We fled (joey and I, rather than madonna and I) and got down to san diego...

The evening involved dinner in the gaslamp district. An area once frequented by wyatt earp and co, and one of the few old areas not torn down to make way for high rises...


12th - san diego zoo is considered one of the finest zoo's in the world. We considered it our responsibility to see if this really is the case:

Reptiles - most unpleasant. Probably not the zoo's fault, more my phobias.
Monkeys and Apes - excellent, could watch them for ages.
Pigs and goats - all amusing, but a bit smelly.
Elephants, rhinos and giraffes - all excellent, soon moving to bigger pens.
Giant Tortoises - mating season. Traumatising.

Overall, a good zoo and a good day out. And at $22 much cheaper than sea world at $55.

On the way back from the zoo, it was joey's turn for a haircut!!! Fortunately we didn't go to the same hairdressers as I did. That would have been wrong. No, joey found some slightly fancy place in a nice area of town (no toni & guy - we are roughing it after all). So she went in and asked for a trim while I went for a stroll. It turns out that it was one of those places that only does one style - not sure that's because they only know how to do one style or they only get asked to do one style. You could go in bald, afro or dreads. You'd still come out with the same cut. I was a little shocked on my return to see that they'd turned jo into the all american housewife. A cross between martha stewart and the mum from the brady bunch. It was very difficult to keep from laughing. So I didn't. They had given her hair a LOT of volume! Photo to follow...


13th - hey amigo! Yes, we went to mexico. Tijuana to be exact. We got the tram from san diego to the border and just walked over. The US side at the border is quite barron, save for a petrol station and a bus stop. The mexican side is quite surreal as it's a huge city squashed right up to the border. Most americans only cross over to buy cheaper drugs (pharmaceutical) have dental work done or drink if you're under 21. The only areas of town reachable by foot are a mixture of chemists, dentists, bars, restaurants and tat merchants. And if you stand out in a crowd as not being mexican (such as my good self) then the merchants try to drag you in every single one. Add to this children selling jewellery and donkeys painted with stripes to look like zebras for photo opportunities and you've got a very unusual and un-mexican way to spend a few hours... It does not give a good impression of mexico which is a shame because it's probably all that most americans will ever see of it.

There is also a well known police scam in tijuana whereby you are accused of trespassing and 'fined' forty or fifty dollars on the spot or threatened with prison. Joey and I haven't had the best of luck in areas like this so it was no surprise when we got stopped by the old bill. First he wanted to see my ID then asked where we had been (i feel trespassing coming on). Then he wanted jo's ID. We spoke to him in Spanish and he realised we were Brits as opposed to Americans. He asked our ages and a few other questions. I'd just noticed that he didn't have a badge and I was almost dipping into my wallet to pay the anticipated 'fine' when he gave us our passports back and sent us on our way. Maybe because we were english or maybe because we tried to speak spanish. Who knows.

The crossing back took two hours or so with the department of homeland security showing their usual levels of efficiency...

Anyway, probably not the most realistic taster of mexico. If you didn't know better, it would put you off...


14th - went to the beaches! Still not a great deal of sunshine, but warm enough to visit pacific beach, ocean beach and mission beach; gnarly little surf obsessed towns where people live to surf. On that day there was a carnival on too which made for a nice day out.

In the evening we found ourselves in another gay bar! Doesn't that make us the brighton equivalent of the british holiday makers who go to marbella and head for the nearest "nags head"? This was in the hillcrest suburb of san diego, a generally gay/studenty area of town which, as usual, had a good mix of shops, restaurants and bars. We did actually stumble into the place erroneously. It was called Mo's. The owners name? No, short for homos! Still, dinner was nice.


15th - sunday was spent cruising the coast. La Jolla (pronounced "hoya") is a very posh suburb. The beaches here were small bays with grassy headlands inbetween. It appeared to be a popular spot for weddings and diving. Above and below the sea level respectively.

Not quite as ostentatious was the northern town of cardiff-by-the-sea! No miners here though. Just big surfers beaches and big big houses on the hills. It was almost as pretty as it's namesake.

We've discovered an ice cream shop here called cold stone creamery where they take basic ice cream flavours and personalise them by adding various biscuits and chocolates and sauces at your request. I am of course addicted. Anyway, we stopped by one near our hotel on the way back when something strange happened. Joey got stuck between the front seats of the car! We'd parked up and she was leaning over to the backseat to get her jumper, when she slipped and fell onto the tat tray that sits between the two front seats (you know, the one where you keep the coins and stuff - in england you'd have a gear stick and handbrake too). Anyway joey fell here and started laughing hysterically. I tried to lift her up, but I accidentally put my finger in her belly button which caused her to wriggle further, and yes, the tat tray collapsed, gravity took over and she slid further. Joey was now well and truly stuck between the seats along with all the crap that was previously on the tray - money, maps, drinks, pens even a guidebook. Of course by this point we were both hysterical. Picture if you will: her legs were bent into the front passenger foot-well, her torso between the front seats, and her head and arms in the rear passenger foot area. At this point (9:15), we realised that the cold stone creamery closed shortly (9:30), and so a struggle ensued. Unfortunately I was pulling joey's legs from the front whilst she was trying to climb into the back. After much seat movement and laurel and hardy type comic movements, the joanne hill 1 was finally freed, whereby we celebrated with ice-cream and fizzy pop. Awesome!


16th - monday was one of my favourite days in the US so far. At 11am I had my first surf lesson in the pacific. Joey chose to sit it out this time (i think that she was protecting her new haircut). The surf at pacific beach is perfect for beginners: clean 3ft swell, mild currents, no rocks or reefs and lots of lifeguards. It all came back pretty quickly and I was falling off the board left, right and centre in no time, just like I was during my lessons last year. This time I learnt to turn which was helpful, though I rarely stayed on a wave long enough to require turning. Every now and then a 6-8ft wave turned up and I got hammered. Most amusing. So after two and a half hours of pacific-swallowing, nose-diving, head-banging, foot-scratching, leash-rubbing, muscle-aching fun, I was done. Next stop, australia!

We spent the afternoon sitting on the beach building sandcastles, watching sufers and watching the sun go down. Followed up by happy hour in a nearby bar and a spot of thai. Sweet.


17th - boring job day. Laundry and accommodation booking/research for L.A. mainly. Only an awesome jerk chicken pizza in the evening managed to save the day from being a write-off...


All in all, san diego was pretty cool. Plenty to see and do, especially if you're a beach bum.

Next instalment: The OC, L.A., and leaving america... Until then...

Ps - lu & chris, hope you enjoyed san fran and had a safe trip home.

No musings from mrs. H today. The sun goddess is preying to her god - working her tan!